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Columnist Corner

Taiji Ishimori def. Caleb Konley

As I mentioned last week, Ishimori is an exciting addition to the X-Division and he's probably the best possible challenger for Trevor Lee right now. This was a fun showcase for him and a nice way to kick off the show, but I really wish we would get to know Konley a little better. At this point in time, we know nothing about who he is or his background other than that he's a lackey for Lee.

I was much more engaged in this three-way than the one that was held last week because it was genuinely unpredictable. This was also Bound for Glory-worthy with the star power involved and all three women had solid showings. Rosemary has been out of the title picture the longest (since the summer), so I liked that she went over and will now face Laurel Van Ness for the vacant Impact Knockouts Championship on next week's show.

LAX Saved TDT From Sami Callihan and Impact World Tag Team Champions oVe

I was looking forward to seeing what Callihan and oVe had to say, especially since Callihan is normally a talented talker, but their promo ended up being a total train wreck. The whole flow of the promo was off and it just came across like nonsensical rambling, but at least the random TDT tag team cut them off before it got worse. I'm not sure if we'll be seeing more of TDT in the future, but it does look like we're headed toward another oVe and LAX rematch. And if wasn't already apparent, oVe are the heels and LAX are the babyfaces as they should be.

Impact Grand Champion Ethan Carter III def. Matt Sydal

EC3 and Sydal could have a very fun match together if it wasn't for the dumb rules of the Impact Grand Championship format. This was slow, plodding, and no different than any other Impact Grand title match we've seen over the last year. I'm honestly shocked the concept is still going despite the many transitions the company has gone through lately. The feud is not yet over, so here's hoping the eventual rematch will be better and more exciting.

Lashley and Dan Lambert def. James Storm and Moose

This was basically a two-on-one Handicap match since Lambert didn't come in until the very end to steal the pin from Lashley, but Lashley worked well with Moose and Storm. I'm glad Lambert wasn't involved more than he was because it would have been a total mismatch. I didn't have as much of a problem with this match as I do with this angle, which feels like it has dragged on forever and needs to end sooner rather than later.

I don't know how wise it was to put two tag team matches back-to-back, but it was easily the best bout on the entire show. They made the most of the time they were allotted and Drake and Adonis did an effective job of building up heat throughout before Impact and Williams battled back and picked up the victory. Alberto El Patron surfaced afterward to lay out Drake and pose with the belt, so a three-way for the Global title is only inevitable.

Overall Show

Most of the matches on this show were well-wrestled and several storylines were progressed, so all things considered, this was an average edition of IMPACT! Wrestling. The programming has been pretty paint-by-numbers lately, so while it could certainly be worse, there is absolutely no buzz surrounding the product at the moment. And with more departures rumored, it'll definitely be difficult for this company to build and ultimately sustain momentum.